Johnny Cage Thread - "I make this look easy!"

Johnny Cage X-Ray is not working WTF? Is anyone else having this problem?

How is it not working? It's hard to diagnose the problem without a more accurate description. Unless of course you've never used it before and don't realize it's a counter...
 
Johnny Cage X-Ray is not working WTF? Is anyone else having this problem?
It's a counter. The other guy has to hit you for it to work. Personally I don't like using it unless I'm really being pressured and the enemy is predictable enough. Otherwise you can either go for enhanced moves, breaker, or just keep the bar full so your opponent won't feel comfortable attacking you and you can dominate the match.
 
I was trying this combo out last night and couldn't get the Flip Kick to work. I learn combos piece by piece and did so with this combo. I could pull-off 2,1,F+2 and B+3,4,4 and 4,4, Flip Kick. After that I added it all together, but could not for the life of me get the Flip Kick to work. It worked just fine when I was just trying 4,4, Flip Kick, but not when I was using the whole combo. Am I missing something?

maybe I'm using Negative Edge on accident, but I always end up doing the input before he does the action on screen by the time he's doing 4,4 I've already had the input for the shadow kick

it's a weird timing to get used to, but I love using it all the time
 
maybe I'm using Negative Edge on accident, but I always end up doing the input before he does the action on screen by the time he's doing 4,4 I've already had the input for the shadow kick

it's a weird timing to get used to, but I love using it all the time

Trust me guys, there is literally no situation where you'd want to do 4,4 after 2,1,f+2 as Johnny. End it with a nut punch always. Nut punch is unique to Johnny and favorable in every way.
 
Trust me guys, there is literally no situation where you'd want to do 4,4 after 2,1,f+2 as Johnny. End it with a nut punch always. Nut punch is unique to Johnny and favorable in every way.
I said this earlier in the thread. I always prefer the reset over maybe 4 or 5% of damage.
 
Trust me guys, there is literally no situation where you'd want to do 4,4 after 2,1,f+2 as Johnny. End it with a nut punch always. Nut punch is unique to Johnny and favorable in every way.

I've never tried nut punch after 2,1,f2 because he seems too far away. I'll try it out later though. Still if you end with 4,4 enhanced flip kick it does something like 30+% damage which is sometimes the end of the game (I'm in Afghanistan and don't have any of the updates so total damage may be different now). Nutpunch is definitely nice for mixing things up and keeping your opponent on their toes but it's not an automatic reset since they can still block. If you sweep after nut punch they can do a wakeup on you - and position wise you would have been better off doing 44, shadow or flip kick to get them closer to the corner.

But maybe I'm wrong...is there a way to guarantee a fresh combo off of nut punch?
 
I've never tried nut punch after 2,1,f2 because he seems too far away. I'll try it out later though. Still if you end with 4,4 enhanced flip kick it does something like 30+% damage which is sometimes the end of the game (I'm in Afghanistan and don't have any of the updates so total damage may be different now). Nutpunch is definitely nice for mixing things up and keeping your opponent on their toes but it's not an automatic reset since they can still block. If you sweep after nut punch they can do a wakeup on you - and position wise you would have been better off doing 44, shadow or flip kick to get them closer to the corner.

But maybe I'm wrong...is there a way to guarantee a fresh combo off of nut punch?

Oh right, I forgot to mention what to do. What you really want to do is dash, f+3 xx nut punch after 2,1,f+2. 25% exactly. You're not exactly looking a way to guarantee a combo after nut punch. You just want to keep constant pressure. It's fine if they block, you want to sit on that meter and chip you gain from it.

Simple pressures after nut punch are usually done with 2,1,f+2 or f+3,3,b+3.

2,1 leaves you at -2 on block but it's generally not easy to react to with the safe and slow launcher at the end. To get what I mean, try 2,1 then 2,1 again after a nut punch. They'll generally block both starting strings.
If you decide to go for the 2,1,f+2 launcher at the end, always buffer dash in case it does hit. It'll put them right back where they started. For them, it's a very scary situation to be in if they can only block.

If they're crouching you can force them to stand with something like F+3,2 xx enhanced forceball. Something like that. F+3 is +2 on block apparently so it's pretty good in your pressure. You can hit confirm F+3,3 so you don't have to buffer. Also you can rarely throw in a 2,1,b+4 for a surprise but if it hits it'll leave you both at neutral. Disadvantage if blocked.

In my personal experience at CEO. Getting in on your opponents with Cage is ridiculously hard. Never let characters get away from you. If you do get in, unless you mess up your opponent will be stuck there until they get a breaker. Tick grabbing after a nut punch is decent but you'll end up having to work your way back into your favored position. I wouldn't use meter for enhanced flip kick unless it's insanely situational. Attempt to save it for a breaker or X-ray. It's worth it ^_^.
 
Oh right, I forgot to mention what to do. What you really want to do is dash, f+3 xx nut punch after 2,1,f+2. 25% exactly. You're not exactly looking a way to guarantee a combo after nut punch. You just want to keep constant pressure. It's fine if they block, you want to sit on that meter and chip you gain from it.

Simple pressures after nut punch are usually done with 2,1,f+2 or f+3,3,b+3.

2,1 leaves you at -2 on block but it's generally not easy to react to with the safe and slow launcher at the end. To get what I mean, try 2,1 then 2,1 again after a nut punch. They'll generally block both starting strings.
If you decide to go for the 2,1,f+2 launcher at the end, always buffer dash in case it does hit. It'll put them right back where they started. For them, it's a very scary situation to be in if they can only block.

If they're crouching you can force them to stand with something like F+3,2 xx enhanced forceball. Something like that. F+3 is +2 on block apparently so it's pretty good in your pressure. You can hit confirm F+3,3 so you don't have to buffer. Also you can rarely throw in a 2,1,b+4 for a surprise but if it hits it'll leave you both at neutral. Disadvantage if blocked.

In my personal experience at CEO. Getting in on your opponents with Cage is ridiculously hard. Never let characters get away from you. If you do get in, unless you mess up your opponent will be stuck there until they get a breaker. Tick grabbing after a nut punch is decent but you'll end up having to work your way back into your favored position. I wouldn't use meter for enhanced flip kick unless it's insanely situational. Attempt to save it for a breaker or X-ray. It's worth it ^_^.

What you wrote is really interesting and I'll follow your advices the next time I use Johnny Cage :).
I just want to say that fjp; 21f2; dash; 44xxenhanced flip kick = 36%
Everytime your opponent has less than 36% you should use this instead of nut punch, which in this particular case is not a wise choice imho.
 
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What you wrote is really interesting and I'll follow your advices the next time I use Johnny Cage :).
I just want to say that fjp; 21f2; dash; 44xxenhanced flip kick = 36%
Everytime your opponent has less than 36% you should use this instead of nut punch, which in this particular case is not a wise choice imho.

Oh, but if you're going to spend the meter. Wouldn't the option of fjp, 21f+2, dash, 44xx enhanced nut punch be 35%? Normal nut punch doesn't connect after 4,4, but enhanced does. Considering you can't do anything but block when hit by nut punch... Wouldn't the chip damage you do afterwards be more than 36%? The F+3,3,b+3 chip is already 6%. So that would add up to 41% with just a simple safe string? xD


I don't want to be pushing my opinion around like a jerk so I'm just leaving it as an option. Hope it helps.
 
Oh, but if you're going to spend the meter. Wouldn't the option of fjp, 21f+2, dash, 44xx enhanced nut punch be 35%? Normal nut punch doesn't connect after 4,4, but enhanced does. Considering you can't do anything but block when hit by nut punch... Wouldn't the chip damage you do afterwards be more than 36%? The F+3,3,b+3 chip is already 6%. So that would add up to 41% with just a simple safe string? xD


I don't want to be pushing my opinion around like a jerk so I'm just leaving it as an option. Hope it helps.

Enhanced nut punch...I never thought it would connect after 44.
Your advices are very appreciated :).
I'll try this asap, thanks again.

Edit: I tried this, but sometimes EX nut punch doesn't hit the opponent...I have to hit him with 44 when he is close to the ground or it will miss.
I think I'll have a hard time trying to make this work 100%.
 
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You can hit confirm F+3,3 so you don't have to buffer. Also you can rarely throw in a 2,1,b+4 for a surprise but if it hits it'll leave you both at neutral. Disadvantage if blocked.

In my personal experience at CEO. Getting in on your opponents with Cage is ridiculously hard. Never let characters get away from you. If you do get in, unless you mess up your opponent will be stuck there until they get a breaker. Tick grabbing after a nut punch is decent but you'll end up having to work your way back into your favored position. I wouldn't use meter for enhanced flip kick unless it's insanely situational. Attempt to save it for a breaker or X-ray. It's worth it ^_^.

Thanks this is great info! A couple questions though:

1) What does hit confirm mean exactly?
2) What do you mean when you say you don't have to buffer?
3) What is Tick grabbing?

Also I've finally got it down where I can hit the 44 about 25% of the time after 2,1,f2 in practice mode but it's so inconsistent and when I'm in a match it's hard enough for me to have the presence of mind to shadow kick after 2,1,f2 never mind something that requires precise timing like that. I know I need to relax more during a fight so that I'm not so feverishly inputting the commands but it's sometimes easier said than done. So are there any tricks you use to time the dash 4,4 or is just muscle memory after doing it a million times?

Another thing I notice when I play Johnny is that he gets a little boring with his 2,1,f2 and f3,3,b3. I do this all the time and don't use a lot of his other strings because they don't seem as effective. Though I guess I'm also playing him wrong because my opponents generally seem to have enough time to react after these combos if they're blocked. Maybe I just need to get better at stringing them together. Maybe it would help if you could give me an example of 4-5 strings you would typically put together with him to maintain pressure, given the opponent is blocking the entire time.

Thanks again...really good stuff!
 
2) Buffering is to enter a sequence of moves before the moves have played out in the game. Many moves in Mortal Kombat 9 require you to do this or the combo won't come out. If the sequence is blocked you are likely to get punished.
1) Hit confirm is to use a move that doesn't require you to buffer. Basically, any move that you can wait to see if it hits and then still follow up with another move. If blocked, you can safely end the combo right there and try something else. For the problem you're describing in your last paragraph, hit confirm is the answer.
3) Tick grabbing is to use a hit confirm (or any attack really), and when blocked follow up with a throw immediately. The upside is it's very easy to pull off, the downside is you're throwing them away from you so it's not something you should do often with Johnny Cage. You don't want them to move away, you want them to remain close. But it does train them to try and counter the throw, which means they may stop blocking after the first attack and allow you to get in a combo. (I'll admit, I had to google this one)
 
3) Tick grabbing is to use a hit confirm (or any attack really), and when blocked follow up with a throw immediately. The upside is it's very easy to pull off, the downside is you're throwing them away from you so it's not something you should do often with Johnny Cage. You don't want them to move away, you want them to remain close. But it does train them to try and counter the throw, which means they may stop blocking after the first attack and allow you to get in a combo. (I'll admit, I had to google this one)

Oh so this is how it is called. Nice strategy, I always get rage messages because of this.
 
Sub-Zero is not that much of a problem, he is easily punishable and he doesn't have chip damage worth shit.
Kung Lao is the same way, JC is fast enough to punish Kung Lao at his spin game.

The characters I actually truly have troubles with are as follow (no specific order)
Nightwolf (once a nightwolf user gets you far away, they can zone you easily with a charge+Lightning combo)
Ermac (Special Moves can easily pick you up, its all a mind game )
Kabal (Zoning and the mixture of the block dash run, plus the run can hit someone in the air)
Reptile(Currently in a W.I.P. the only problem is that damn elbow dash)
Raiden (Trickiest bastard ever with the tele, and the Superman move that can't be countered by anything by JC [even in a wakeup which if you do a wakeup when they super man it will register as a block])
 
Raiden and Ermac are cakewalk for me. Patience is for both. I always bait the Superman when I knockdown Raiden. And Ermac has no mixup game so I just chill until he finishes his string then punish him with a Shadow Kick or full combo if I could.
 
Raiden and Ermac are cakewalk for me. Patience is for both. I always bait the Superman when I knockdown Raiden. And Ermac has no mixup game so I just chill until he finishes his string then punish him with a Shadow Kick or full combo if I could.

The problem with Ermac though that I've experienced is when he zones me with his projectile. Then tricks someone with either the air punch (the green one, don't remember what its called, its like a stun of some sort)

Raiden is the same way, I can't stand them chip damaging me and when they do the teleport when I just crouch low, I attempt my flipkick or sweep or crossup and it always seems to fail.
 
I just started learning Johnny Cage a few days ago and think he's an amazing fighter. I'm a beast at doing combos, so that's no problem for me. But I need help on how to approach opponents with Johnny Cage?
 
It's about 2 weeks I've started using JC, and I think I've become a pretty skilled player thanks to the tips given me by DCP, Criss and MagiCurtains. Now I can say he is one of my mains :)
I haven't seen anyone online do this combos with JC, and since these are my favorites with him I'll post them here:

Fjp; f4; 21f2; 44xxShadowKick = 36%
Fjp; f4; 21f2; 44xxNutPunch = 36% (tricky timing for the nutpunch...)
Fjp; f4; 21f2; 44xxExNutPunch = 40% 1 bar


Probably many of you already know about these, but maybe it will help someone improving his game.
 
I just started learning Johnny Cage a few days ago and think he's an amazing fighter. I'm a beast at doing combos, so that's no problem for me. But I need help on how to approach opponents with Johnny Cage?
Dash block like theres no tomorrow, thats what I do, watch out for cross ups and teleports. (and those who move up for throws as well)

So day by day I'm realizing that cage's worst match ups have got to be
Reptile, Kano, and Nightwolf. Surely not by trickery but by recovery times and move canceling issues.
 
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